Tom Howard & John Howard Reid
Annual $5,350 Prose & Poetry
Contests, Open to All Writers
Each year, Tom Howard Books and John Howard Reid sponsor three
Writing Contests. These Contests are open to all writers worldwide, although please note that all entries must be written in English.
In order of annual closing dates, these contests are:
1. The John Howard Reid/Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest, deadline March 31,
2010. Entries for Contest 18 will be
accepted from July 15, 2009. Prize money has been increased to $5,550. The entry fee, however, will remain at $15 for each story or essay up to 5,000 words in length. The prize structure for
Contest 18 will consist of a First Prize of $3,000, a Second Prize of $1,000, a Third Prize of $400, and a Fourth Prize of $250.
In addition, six cash prizes of $150 each will be awarded, making a total of $5,550.
2. The $5,550 Margaret Reid Poetry Prize, closing June 30, 2010. Entries will be accepted from November 15, 2009.
See full details below.
3. The $5,350 Tom Howard Poetry Contest for Verse in All Styles and Genres, closing September 30,
2009. This contest is now open. Please click this link for further information:
http://tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com
The John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest
RESULTS for the 2007 Short Story & Essay Contest (that closed March 31, 2008) will be found at the bottom of this page.
The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize
for Traditional Verse
in all styles
& genres
Three important notices:
Here is the fourth and latest Anthology of Prizewinning Poems from the Tom Howard Poetry Prize and the Margaret Reid Prize for traditional verse. Only $16.50 for a beautiful proof edition from the publisher. At the moment, however, Amazon are offering a special price of only $9.95. I don't know how long this special price will last. So if you wish to buy a copy, now is the right time!
Please use this link for the $16.50 edition: Lulu Books
2. The 18th John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest
WILL OPEN ON JULY 15, 2009!
Please scroll right down this page.
Or visit: http://shortstorycontest.0catch.com
or http://www.geocities.com/rastar330/prose.htm
Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest closes March 31, EACH YEAR.
Prize Money for fiction and prose entered in Contest 18 will be US$5,550 cash, including a First Prize of US$3,000 and a Second Prize of US$1,000! Online submission will be available at Winning Writers from July 15, 2009: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tomstory/ts_guidelines.php
3. Here's absolute-must reading for all who wish to succeed in literary contests and writing competitions! A new edition of my famous handbook "WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How to Join the Winners' Circle for Short Story Awards, Poetry Prizes, etc." is now available direct from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex
Price is $14.99. The book trade edition is also now available. Buy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. Same price. Buy this book now! What's $14.99 compared to increasing your chances of carrying off that $2,000 in cash First Prize? Here's just one important tip from "WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS":
Know your judge! That's the most important rule of all if you want to reach the Winners' Circle of a Literary Competition. What are the writing qualities the judge admires? What is he or she actually looking for in a poem, a story or an essay?
So how do you find out this important information? What sort of stories or poems does the judge write? What subjects interest him (or her)? What work has won awards from this judge in previous contests? What famous writers does the judge admire and look to for inspiration?
It's easy to find answers to these questions in a contest like this. For example, an answer to the second last question, can be ascertained by consulting "Watching Time", the latest anthology of award-winning stories and prose, or "Sailing in the Mist of Time", a similar anthology of prize-winning poetry. If you click on the Lulu link http://www.lulu.com/filmindex
you can then click on the cover of the book you want to look at, and then click on "Preview".
I'll answer the last question by stating that, in my opinion, the greatest story ever written is "The Adventures of Toby" in the Old Testament. You'll find it in my book, "Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Orthodox Old Testament." This story is actually a parable. It started off as a camp-fire tale and has gone through many hands who have refined it into the powerful and moving narrative it now forms, thanks to its sympathetic, true-to-life characters and intriguing, fast-moving incidents. So "The Adventures of Toby" is a collaborative effort. I regard the best short prose piece written by an individual to be "A Pathetic Story" by Jerome K. Jerome. You'll find the full text of Jerome's story in "Write Ways To Win Writing Contests."
If you click this link, you'll be able to read "The Adventures of Toby" right here online. Please use the back button on your web browser to return to this page.
http://writenews.exactpages.com/toby.htm
5th Annual Margaret Reid Prize
for Traditional Verse
The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse will re-open on November 15, 2009. Closing date: June 30, 2010. For full details and online submission and mailing address: http://winningwriters.com/contests/margaret/ma_guidelines.php
Total Prize money: $5,350 (including a First Prize of $2,000, a Second Prize of $1,000, a Third Prize of $500 and a Fourth Prize of $250).
Entry fee: $7 for every 25 lines (or part thereof). Blank lines and titles are not counted.
VERY FEW RESTRICTIONS
Send as many poems as you like. No restrictions on length or subject matter. Poems must be your original work, but previously published poems and poems that have won prizes in other contests are welcome. "Traditional Verse" is loosely defined, and includes free verse, haiku and most other popular forms except prose poems and storoems. In other words, your entries should look like poetry (or like any of the 106 winning and commended poems published in "SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME").
Entry forms are not necessary, but by entering this contest you agree to abide by all its conditions. Decisions by the chief judge are final.
Winning and highly commended entries will be offered free print publication in an anthology of similar size and quality to SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME. However, you retain all rights and are free to accept or decline all offers of print publication whether it be in a quality trade paperback similar to SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME or any other printed book.
Entries
must be postmarked on or before June 30, 2010, or lodged online before
midnight, June 30, 2010, Pacific Time.
Online submission using your credit card or PayPal will be available at Winning Writers. Please use this link on and after November 15, 2009: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/margaret/ma_guidelines.php
Postal submissions may be sent to Winning Writers, Attention Margaret Reid Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA. The entry fee of US$7 for every 25 lines may be paid by check (payable to Winning Writers at a USA bank), cash, or money order
The 18th annual John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest will open on July 15, 2009.
The Contest will offer
a
$5,550
total prize pool!
Second
Prize: $1,000
Third
Prize: $400. Fourth prize: $250
Plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each.
Please note that the judges will endeavor to award at least one of the cash prizes this year to a humorous story, essay or article.
Your
story or prose piece should be no longer than 5,000 words. There is no minimum
length. Closing date is March 31, 2010. You can enter a story that has already been
published or even won prizes in other contests (so long as you have not sold the
online publication rights). Unpublished stories are certainly
most welcome too! The judges are always anxious to discover new, promising
writers,
All
ten winning stories/essays will be published on the WINNING WRITERS web site. At
his discretion, the publisher may also from time to time offer selected winning works print
publication in an Anthology similar to WATCHING TIME. Writers are completely free to accept or decline such an invitation.
It is recommended that intending entrants read some of the previous winning stories and essays included in the latest anthology, "WATCHING TIME".
Alas, as it happens, both the first printing and the second printing of the trade edition of "WATCHING TIME" have completely sold out. It was originally out of print for over a year, but was then reprinted and went back on sale in book stores on July 12, 2008 for $12.95. Of course, you could always buy copies -- and in fact you can still buy copies for the same $12.95 cover price -- direct from the publisher at this link: http://www.lulu.com/filmindex You will need to scroll down to the very bottom of the page. You'll also find two other anthologies near the bottom of the page: "Keep Watching the Skies" and "Mr Christian and the Bag Lady". These two books have both been reprinted and will soon be available in retail stores. In the meantime, you can buy them only at Lulu.
Entry forms for this Contest are not necessary, but by entering you agree to abide by all its conditions. Decisions by the chief judge are final.
You retain all rights and are free to accept or decline any offers of print publication.
ENTRY FEE: $15 per story/essay.
Maximum
length: 5,000 words.
No
minimum length requirements. No restrictions on the type or theme of the
stories or prose pieces you may submit. Send as many entries as you like!
Entries
must be postmarked on or before March 31, 2010, or lodged online before
midnight, March 31, 2010, Pacific Time.
Online submission using your credit card or PayPal will be available at Winning Writers from July 15, 2009. Please use this link: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tomstory/ts_guidelines.php
Postal submissions may be sent to Winning Writers, Attention Tom Howard Short Story Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA.
Chief judge: John Howard Reid. Associate judge: Professor Dee C. Konrad.
